Grenade assassinates Russian commander who led Mariupol attack & Ukraine launches 'autonomous' AI drone
Day 1,192.Today, while missiles and drones ran down on Ukraine, and especially on Kharkiv, Ukraine and its allies are still waiting for Russia’s memo on their terms for a potential ceasefire and peace talks next week in Istanbul. We also discuss the increase of electronic warfare on the battlefield and share an exclusive interview with former deputy assistant to the US president and senior director for European and Russian affairs on the U.S. National Security Council, Fiona Hill. Plus, Dom and Francis report from Ukraine.Contributors:Adélie Pojzman-Pontay (Journalist and Producer). @adeliepjz on X.Hamish De Bretton-Gordon (Former British Army Tank Commander). @HamishDBG on XPlus Dom Nicholls and Francis Dearnley.With thanks to Fiona Hill (Former deputy assistant to the US president and senior director for European and Russian affairs on the U.S. National Security Council) and Cameron Henderson (US Reporter at the Telegraph). @CamHenderson98 on X.SIGN UP TO THE NEW ‘UKRAINE: THE LATEST’ WEEKLY NEWSLETTER:https://secure.telegraph.co.uk/customer/secure/newsletter/ukraine/ Each week, Dom Nicholls and Francis Dearnley answer your questions, provide recommended reading, and give exclusive analysis and behind-the-scenes insights – plus maps of the frontlines and diagrams of weapons to complement our daily reporting. It’s free for everyone, including non-subscribers.Content Referenced:Fiona Hill: Trump is terrified of Putin, I’ve seen it first hand, The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2025/05/25/fiona-hill-interview-trump-terrified-putin-seen-firsthand/Lessons of Ukraine: Properly equipped modern tanks will still rule the battlefield, The Telegraphhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05/29/main-battle-tanks-ads-active-defence-ew-ukraine-drone-war/Moscow is now a target for Ukraine’s Western missileshttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05/28/moscow-target-ukraine-missiles-kremlin-putin-merz-taurus/Ukraine Drone Carriers Launch First Long-Range Autonomous Strikeshttps://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2025/05/26/ukraine-drone-carriers-launch-first-long-range-autonomous-strikes/China Cut Drone Sales to West But Supplies Them to Russia, Ukraine Sayshttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-29/china-cut-drone-sales-to-west-but-supplies-them-to-russia-ukraine-saysNOW AVAILABLE IN NEW LANGUAGES:The Telegraph has launched translated versions of Ukraine: The Latest in Ukrainian and Russian, making its reporting accessible to audiences on both sides of the battle lines and across the wider region, including Central Asia and the Caucasus. Just search Україна: Останні Новини (Ukr) and Украина: Последние Новости (Ru) on your on your preferred podcast app to find them.Listen here: https://linktr.ee/ukrainethelatest Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
30 Maj 1h 7min
Putin and Zelensky meeting 'possible' & Ukraine strikes industrial plants across Russia
Day 1,191.Today, Ukraine targets Moscow with drone attacks for the second consecutive days and strikes several industrial plants linked to the war effort in Russia. Meanwhile, Russia proposes a new round of peace talks in Istanbul on June 2nd. We discuss the memorandums that both Ukraine and Russia are drafting ahead of the meeting and whether we’ll see a change from Russia’s maximalist stance from earlier this month. And we look ahead to the Polish presidential elections on Sunday. Finally, Francis Dearnley sits down with Mykola Bielieskov of the National Institute for Strategic Studies. Contributors:Adélie Pojzman-Pontay (Journalist and Producer). @adeliepjz on X.James Rothwell (Berlin Correspondent). @JamesERothwell on X.James Kilner (Former Russia Correspondent). @jkjourno on X.Francis Dearnley (Executive Editor for Audio). @FrancisDearnley on X.With thanks to Mykola Bielieskov (Research Fellow at the National Institute for Strategic Studies). @MBielieskov on X.SIGN UP TO THE NEW ‘UKRAINE: THE LATEST’ WEEKLY NEWSLETTER:https://secure.telegraph.co.uk/customer/secure/newsletter/ukraine/ Each week, Dom Nicholls and Francis Dearnley answer your questions, provide recommended reading, and give exclusive analysis and behind-the-scenes insights – plus maps of the frontlines and diagrams of weapons to complement our daily reporting. It’s free for everyone, including non-subscribers.Content Referenced:Exclusive: Putin's demands for peace include an end to NATO enlargement, sources say, Reutershttps://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-ukraine-peace-wants-pledge-halt-nato-enlargement-sources-say-2025-05-28/Germany and Ukraine reach deal for long-range weapons productionhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/28/zelenskyy-merz-germany-ukraine-sumyOver half of Azov fighters returned to Ukraine, official says, Kyiv Independenthttps://kyivindependent.com/over-half-of-azov-fighters-returned-to-ukraine-official-says/NOW AVAILABLE IN NEW LANGUAGES:The Telegraph has launched translated versions of Ukraine: The Latest in Ukrainian and Russian, making its reporting accessible to audiences on both sides of the battle lines and across the wider region, including Central Asia and the Caucasus. Just search Україна: Останні Новини (Ukr) and Украина: Последние Новости (Ru) on your on your preferred podcast app to find them.Listen here: https://linktr.ee/ukrainethelatestSubscribe: telegraph.co.uk/ukrainethelatestEmail: ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
29 Maj 1h 6min
50,000 fresh Russian troops massing & Germany to help Ukraine make long-range missiles
Day 1,190.Today, as Ukraine reels from yet another record drone bombardment, we look at warnings that Russia is massing 50,000 troops near Sumy ahead of a new offensive. Plus we bring you some of the top lines from Chancellor Friederich Merz’s press conference with Vlodomyr Zelensky, where he announced that Germany would help Ukraine build long-range missiles. We’ll also be hearing Dom’s interview with Estonia’s defence minister about Moscow’s shadow fleet and how to protect critical infrastructure from Russia. And Roland Oliphant reports from Armenia on the dilemma facing small former Soviet Union states in the midst of what some politicians there are describing as a geopolitical earthquake. Contributors:Venetia Rainey (Co-host Battle Lines podcast). @@venetiarainey on X.Joe Barnes (Brussels Correspondent). @@Barnes_Joe on X.Roland Oliphant (Chief Foreign Analyst). @RolandOliphant on X.Dom Nicholls (Associate Editor for Defence). @DomNicholls on X.With thanks to Hanno Pevkur (Minister of Defence of Estonia).SIGN UP TO THE NEW ‘UKRAINE: THE LATEST’ WEEKLY NEWSLETTER:https://secure.telegraph.co.uk/customer/secure/newsletter/ukraine/ Each week, Dom Nicholls and Francis Dearnley answer your questions, provide recommended reading, and give exclusive analysis and behind-the-scenes insights – plus maps of the frontlines and diagrams of weapons to complement our daily reporting. It’s free for everyone, including non-subscribers.Content Referenced:Ukraine launches massive drone attack on Russiahttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/05/28/ukraine-launches-massive-drone-attack-on-russia/Ukraine War latest newshttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/05/28/russia-ukraine-zelensky-putin-war-latest-news529/NOW AVAILABLE IN NEW LANGUAGES:The Telegraph has launched translated versions of Ukraine: The Latest in Ukrainian and Russian, making its reporting accessible to audiences on both sides of the battle lines and across the wider region, including Central Asia and the Caucasus. Just search Україна: Останні Новини (Ukr) and Украина: Последние Новости (Ru) on your on your preferred podcast app to find them.Listen here: https://linktr.ee/ukrainethelatestSubscribe: telegraph.co.uk/ukrainethelatestEmail: ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
28 Maj 40min
Ukraine's allies back long-range missile strikes on Russia & Trump calls Putin 'absolutely crazy'
Day 1,189.Today, after Kyiv suffers some of the most intense bombardments of the war, we look at why more drones and ballistic missiles are piercing Ukrainian defences, and assess the significance of Donald Trump saying that Vladimir Putin has gone “absolutely crazy.” Plus we hear another interview from Dom’s trip to Estonia, and reflect on how the podcast began with Ukraine’s: The Latest’s original producer.Contributors:Francis Dearnley (Executive Editor for Audio). @FrancisDearnley on X.Dom Nicholls (Associate Editor for Defence). @DomNicholls on X.Giles Gear (Audio Executive Editor). @GilesGear on LinkedIn.With thanks to Dr Jack Watling (Senior Research Fellow at Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies). @Jack_Watling on X.SIGN UP TO THE NEW ‘UKRAINE: THE LATEST’ WEEKLY NEWSLETTER:https://secure.telegraph.co.uk/customer/secure/newsletter/ukraine/ Each week, Dom Nicholls and Francis Dearnley answer your questions, provide recommended reading, and give exclusive analysis and behind-the-scenes insights – plus maps of the frontlines and diagrams of weapons to complement our daily reporting. It’s free for everyone, including non-subscribers.Content Referenced:Russia Is Raining Hellfire On Ukraine (The Economist):https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/05/25/russia-is-raining-hellfire-on-ukraineSlammed by Russian missiles, Ukraine seeks more U.S. air defense systems (Washington Post):https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/26/ukraine-patriot-missiles-air-defense-raytheon/NOW AVAILABLE IN NEW LANGUAGES:The Telegraph has launched translated versions of Ukraine: The Latest in Ukrainian and Russian, making its reporting accessible to audiences on both sides of the battle lines and across the wider region, including Central Asia and the Caucasus. Just search Україна: Останні Новини (Ukr) and Украина: Последние Новости (Ru) on your on your preferred podcast app to find them.Listen here: https://linktr.ee/ukrainethelatestSubscribe: telegraph.co.uk/ukrainethelatestEmail: ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
27 Maj 1h 3min
War's oldest weapon - how Russia terrorises women
Today is a public holiday here in the UK, and so we’re releasing a special episode on one of the great taboo subjects in the history of warfare: that of the role of gender and sexual violence. Firstly, Adelie speaks with Sofi Oksanen, who just published the viral essay 'Same River, Twice, Putin’s War on Women'. She discusses how historic attitudes to gender in Russia impacted post-Soviet history. The second interview is with Tetiana Tymoshenko, a therapist who works with survivors of rape in Ukraine with the UNFPA. Listener discretion is especially advised for this episode.Contributors:Adélie Pojzman-Pontay (Reporter and Producer). @adeliepjz on X.With thanks to Sofi Oksanen, @SofiOksanen on X.SIGN UP TO THE NEW ‘UKRAINE: THE LATEST’ WEEKLY NEWSLETTER:https://secure.telegraph.co.uk/customer/secure/newsletter/ukraine/ Each week, Dom Nicholls and Francis Dearnley answer your questions, provide recommended reading, and give exclusive analysis and behind-the-scenes insights – plus maps of the frontlines and diagrams of weapons to complement our daily reporting. It’s free for everyone, including non-subscribers.Content Referenced:Conference: Thought and Truth under Pressurehttps://www.svenskaakademien.se/en/events/thought-and-truth-under-pressureSame River, Twice: Putin's War on Womenhttps://harpercollins.co.uk/products/same-river-twice-putins-war-on-women-sofi-oksanen?variant=53507032514939An online psychotherapy support platform for survivors of conflict-related violence Aurora operates in Ukraine, UNFPAhttps://ukraine.unfpa.org/en/aurora_engNOW AVAILABLE IN NEW LANGUAGES:The Telegraph has launched translated versions of Ukraine: The Latest in Ukrainian and Russian, making its reporting accessible to audiences on both sides of the battle lines and across the wider region, including Central Asia and the Caucasus. Just search Україна: Останні Новини (Ukr) and Украина: Последние Новости (Ru) on your on your preferred podcast app to find them.Listen here: https://linktr.ee/ukrainethelatestSubscribe: telegraph.co.uk/ukrainethelatestEmail: ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
26 Maj 45min
Putin forced to slash budgets after oil price fall & precision strikes batter Russian infrastructure
Day 1,185.Today, as Ukraine closes Moscow’s airspace for the third night in a row we get our regular update about resistance activities in the occupied territories, report from a NATO exercise in Sweden and, for a little pick me up at the end of the week, you’ll hear what happened when Francis and Dom were introduced to strong Ukrainian coffee. Contributors:Dom Nicholls (Associate Editor for Defence). @DomNicholls on X.Dr. Jade McGlynn (War Studies Department of King's College). @DrJadeMcGlynn on X.SIGN UP TO THE NEW ‘UKRAINE: THE LATEST’ WEEKLY NEWSLETTER:https://secure.telegraph.co.uk/customer/secure/newsletter/ukraine/ Each week, Dom Nicholls and Francis Dearnley answer your questions, provide recommended reading, and give exclusive analysis and behind-the-scenes insights – plus maps of the frontlines and diagrams of weapons to complement our daily reporting. It’s free for everyone, including non-subscribers.Content Referenced:Hear more about Venetia's trip on our sister podcast 'Battle Lines':https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05/23/battle-lines-trump-edition-inside-trumps-new-star-wars-prog/Learn More about Vadym's Coffee:https://www.instagram.com/vadymgranovskiy/How Ukraine's best coffee maker joined the fight against Russia (GQ):https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/politics/article/coffee-man-of-ukraine-war-vadym-granovskiy Joseph Nye obituary in The Telegraph:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2025/05/12/joseph-nye-foreign-policy-soft-power-washington-obama-bush/Subscribe: telegraph.co.uk/ukrainethelatestEmail: ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
23 Maj 46min
'Retribution' as bomb kills officers in occupied Ukraine & Trump admits Putin ‘doesn't want peace’
Day 1,184.Today, as Moscow’s Airports are once again shut down by Ukrainian drones, we hear about Chechnan officers apparently assassinated in the occupied territories, as it’s revealed Trump told his European counterparts Putin does not want to end the war. Plus, we hear about the educational challenges faced by refugees, and the evolving nature of civil society in a country at war with the founder of one of Ukraine’s largest foundations. Contributors:Francis Dearnley (Executive Editor for Audio). @FrancisDearnley on X.Dom Nicholls (Associate Editor for Defence). @DomNicholls on X.Poppy Wood (Education Editor). @poppyeh on X.With thanks to Serhiy Prytula, founder of the Serhiy Prytula Foundation. @serhiyprytula on X.SIGN UP TO THE NEW ‘UKRAINE: THE LATEST’ WEEKLY NEWSLETTER:https://secure.telegraph.co.uk/customer/secure/newsletter/ukraine/ Each week, Dom Nicholls and Francis Dearnley answer your questions, provide recommended reading, and give exclusive analysis and behind-the-scenes insights – plus maps of the frontlines and diagrams of weapons to complement our daily reporting. It’s free for everyone, including non-subscribers.Content Referenced:Ukrainian children ‘forced’ to study Russian GCSE (Poppy and Francis’s story in The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05/19/ukrainian-children-forced-study-russian-gcse-in-uk/ Special Episode interviewing Ukrainian children:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/special-childhood-at-war/id1612424182?i=1000704331753 Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/episode/3SjJ3cUVYiweoChHsvjL6b?si=wH_9X4gQRLyyvGjLfom_Ug Learn more about the Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation:https://prytulafoundation.org/en Trump Tells European Leaders in Private That Putin Isn’t Ready to End War (Wall Street Journal):https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/trump-putin-call-russia-ukraine-83a6ef59'We don't want this anymore' — Lavrov confirms Russia has no interest in ceasefire in Ukraine (Kyiv Independent):https://kyivindependent.com/we-dont-want-this-anymore-russia-rejects-a-ceasefire-in-ukraine-lavrov-says/ Ukrainian ex-politician shot dead while dropping daughter at Madrid school (The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/05/21/ukrainian-father-shot-five-time-madrid/ Subscribe: telegraph.co.uk/ukrainethelatestEmail: ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
22 Maj 1h 3min
Gun battles reported in Russia as Ukrainian saboteurs wreak havoc & Russian warplane factory 'ablaze'
Day 1,183.Today, as Vladimir Putin makes his first visit to Kursk after the Kremlin erroneously claimed all Ukrainian soldiers had been completely pushed out of the territory, we look at the latest deep strikes on Russian infrastructure, hear from an ambulance convoy in Ukraine, and speak to a central advisor of the European Union on Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations.Contributors:Francis Dearnley (Executive Editor for Audio). @FrancisDearnley on X.Dom Nicholls (Associate Editor for Defence). @DomNicholls on X.With thanks to Brock Bierman (Founder of the non-profit Ukraine Focus).And Bob Dean (Head of the Security Unit of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations)SIGN UP TO THE NEW ‘UKRAINE: THE LATEST’ WEEKLY NEWSLETTER:https://secure.telegraph.co.uk/customer/secure/newsletter/ukraine/ Each week, Dom Nicholls and Francis Dearnley answer your questions, provide recommended reading, and give exclusive analysis and behind-the-scenes insights – plus maps of the frontlines and diagrams of weapons to complement our daily reporting. It’s free for everyone, including non-subscribers.Content Referenced:Learn more about ‘Ukraine Focus’, delivering ambulances to Ukraine:https://ukrainefocus.org/ https://ukrainefocus.org/programs/zelensky-truck/ Ukraine has shown you can now buy an intelligence agency off the shelf (Ben Wallace in The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05/20/intelligence-agencies-no-longer-just-for-governments/Trump’s New Position on the War in Ukraine: Not My Problem (New York Times):https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/20/us/politics/trump-ukraine-russia.html Russian Troops Are War-Weary, but Want to Conquer More of Ukraine (New York Times):https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/17/world/europe/russian-troops-peace-putin.html Losing friends, fast (POLITICO):https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/brussels-playbook/losing-friends-fast/ NOW AVAILABLE IN NEW LANGUAGES:The Telegraph has launched translated versions of Ukraine: The Latest in Ukrainian and Russian, making its reporting accessible to audiences on both sides of the battle lines and across the wider region, including Central Asia and the Caucasus. Just search Україна: Останні Новини (Ukr) and Украина: Последние Новости (Ru) on your on your preferred podcast app to find them.Listen here: https://linktr.ee/ukrainethelatestSubscribe: telegraph.co.uk/ukrainethelatestEmail: ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
21 Maj 52min
